This isn't really earth-shattering news on The Spirit, but it is an interesting item nonetheless. Frank Miller has written a blog for Spike all about his experiences at New York Comic Con. (And if you missed it, which I did, he also reminisces fondly about his rocky relationship with Will Eisner over on the movie's official site.)

Miller writes all about his love for New York, admiration for a comic convention that is rivaling San Diego ("San Diego -- New York's hot on your ass!"), and the excitement of debuting the teaser trailer. "It was with provincial pleasure that I got to introduce The Spirit teaser trailer in the city that so wonderfully inspired Will Eisner, and inspires me like a son of a bitch today. It was, to say the least, the perfect setting."

He continues, "The Spirit movie is a love letter to New York, and here we were: Deborah Del Prete, my producer and a behind-the-scenes warrior without whom the movie would've been unachievable, me, Eva Mendes, who brought Sand Saref to unforgettable life, and Mike Uslan, the man who held tight to the license, and the trust Will Eisner extended him, until he was confident Eisner's treasure could be portrayed with the respect it deserved. And right there, filling the hall was a raucous New York crowd, roaring in response to their first glimpse at what, I believe, is a dream come true for all of us. Only two regrets: I'd have happily suffered Eisner's inevitable criticism, and our inevitable argument, were my Mentor alive to see it."

Another new (and improved, in my opinion) image of Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in The Spirit has been revealed, courtesy of Comic Con Magazine (click image to enlarge). Directed by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and based on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, The Spirit follows rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Jackson plays The Octopus, The Spirit's main nemesis -- a villain who plans to wipe out all of Central City and kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. (That said, I guess we're all doomed -- damn you Comic Con magazine for showing us this dude's face!)

Also starring in the flick are Scarlett Johansson (as the Octopus' secretary, Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (as Sand Saref), Jaime King (as Lorelei Rox) and Paz Vega (as Plaster of Paris). Gotta love the names in this one. If I may recommend myself for the sequel; I could play Dynamo Clorox III. Sweet! The first trailer for The Spirit was released during New York Comic Con, and I'm sure the cast and crew will have plenty of goodies for the folks attending San Diego Comic Con in July.

The Spirit arrives in theaters on December 25 (Happy Birthday Jesus, indeed!). Check out our gallery below.



[via Coming Soon]

I've been hankering for a good crime flick with a women in the lead for a long time (I can't be the only one who thinks that Catherine Zeta Jones' pregnant drug runner deserved way more screen time in Traffic). But, in the grand tradition of most crime movies, women are relegated to the sidelines as either 'the downfall of the anti-hero', or, 'sexy punching bag' -- neither of which is very flattering, but hopefully that will change with Queen of the South. Variety reports that Eva Mendes has signed to star in the big screen adaptation of Arturo Perez Reverte's crime novel, La reina del sur (Queen of the South).

The story is being touted as a "female Scarface," and centers on a woman who flees to Spain when her drug-dealing boyfriend is murdered. Once she arrives, she starts her own narcotics operation to finance revenge against her lover's murderers -- and quickly becomes top dog. Joining Mendes in the cast are Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley in as-yet unnamed roles.

News of the flick first surfaced last year, with Mendes, Jennifer Lopez, and Penelope Cruz on the short list for the role, but in the end Mendes won out. Personally I would have liked to see Lopez take on the role (it's been too long since we had the chance to see her be a bad ass), but I guess in a pinch Mendes will do.

Do you think Warners made the right choice with Mendes? Or is there anyone else out there who would have liked to watch Lopez 'tussle' just one more time?

The first two posters for The Spirit have debuted online shortly before the trailer (which hits today at 4pm). The image above comes to us via AICN and it appears to be the official teaser poster. Included after the jump is the exclusive Comic Con poster for The Spirit (via Yahoo Movies), featuring Eva Mendes as Sand Saref -- bending down, oozing sexy in some tight black outfit. The gal looks pretty damn good, and I love how her character's name is only a few letters off from the name of a font. Fonts are hot! Right off the bat we can see these first two posters have that Sin City vibe Miller and Robert Rodriguez created a few years ago for the live-action version of Miller's other comic. The cold, newspaper-retro style with a splash of bright red.

Personally, I absolutely loved Sin City and so I'm definitely loving what we've seen so far from The Spirit. I do wonder how much Miller (who's directing The Spirit himself) borrowed from his experience with Rodriguez. Will we see an identical vision, or will Miller emerge with his own style, look and feel? What do you think?

Comic Con poster after the jump, or in the gallery below.

UPDATE: Images have been removed at the request of the studio.

While she doesn't look all too excited, I'd gladly take this version of Scarlett Johansson as my nurse any day of the week. According to Egotastic!, the above image is part of three test shots of her character Silk N. Floss in Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's classic comic, The Spirit. In the film, Johansson will play a super sexy femme fatale; secretary and accomplice to the Octopus (played by Samuel L. Jackson). The Octopus is a villain who kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. The Spirit also stars Gabriel Macht as Denny Colt (aka The Spirit); a rookie cop who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Jamie King and Paz Vega round out the cast. Check out more pics of Johansson in the gallery below.

The Spirit is scheduled to arrive in theaters on January 16, 2009.

I admit it: I have a pretty big soft spot for Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! It was the first movie I rented after moving out of rural land and discovering urban video stores that had all the old classics, hard-to-find flicks, and cult greats. It marked a new era in my movie-going life, but I think that even if this was some movie I hated, or never even heard of, I'd still throw up in my mouth a little over this piece of news. Liz Smith over at Variety says that Quentin Tarantino is itching to remake the 1966 cult classic. Normally, this would be fine. I usually enjoy, or even love, what he puts up on the big screen. But cult fans -- Tarantino seems to have lost his marbles.

Smith goes on to say that he's got his first casting choices set -- Kim Kardashian (Sure, why not?), Eva Mendes (I can dig it...), and Britney Spears. Yes -- wacky, unstable, and driving 100 mph towards a sturdy, brick wall, Crazy Lady Spears. That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Hell, I'm even with Smith on ditching Spears and picking up La Lohan. Why? The latter might have her share of tabloid turmoil, but at least she's got some acting chops in there as well. A little craziness and some acting talent -- that's just what a Pussycat remake would need. Besides -- would he wants Spears on the set? Just imagine the tabloid fodder that would bring.

Yes! I must forget this news for a bit to maintain my sanity, so let's play a game: Should Britney get the gig, and bring her tabloid life to the film set, how would it play out? Muse below!

James Gray's The Yards (2000) opened in the U.S. to fairly mixed reviews, many politely recommending it and many politely panning it. Nobody got too excited about it either way, and neither did audiences. According to boxofficemojo.com, it grossed less than $1 million on a $24 million budget. But Europe was a different story. European film critics generally are geared more toward artistry and personal expression than they are stories and subject matter, and I often agree with their assessments, but for some reason they really latched onto The Yards. I caught up with the film later, when Miramax released a special edition DVD in 2006, and I found myself agreeing with my American colleagues. It has a kind of nostalgia for the 1970s, with James Caan, Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway in rich supporting roles, and so perhaps it gives the illusion of grit and risk. But the leads Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron placed it squarely in the present when risk is better in theory than in practice.

Seven years later, Gray has returned with his third film (his first was 1994's Little Odessa), and I've slowly begun to understand Gray's brand of low-key skill. Certainly the premise, about two opposing brothers, one in law enforcement and the other hovering near the underworld, has been around for some time, and could have been told in any early D.W. Griffith or Raoul Walsh silent picture. John Woo made a masterpiece from the idea with his A Better Tomorrow (1986). And Clark Gable and William Powell played out the idea -- as best friends instead of brothers -- in Manhattan Melodrama (1934). But Gray takes the tale, shakes it out and makes it compelling once more.

Just when you think you've seen it all -- and just when you were sick of all these damn lists -- comes Film Threat's four-parter on the fifty best breasts (aka boobs, aka ta-tas) in movie history. Now they don't seem to target specific films and characters within those films; this is more of a fifty best breasts in Hollywood history, as the list centers more on the actresses -- the women -- than the roles they've taken on. My favorite part of this list has to do with the fact that they included YouTube clips featuring all of the actresses in their best, well, attire (my personal favorite has to be the clip for Chesty Morgan). Some of the clips are from films, others are these weird stalker-ish montages -- nevertheless, it's all worth a look.

By now you're probably wondering who made their list. Well, noticeably absent is Angelina Jolie (who I would've thrown on there, if only for that ultra-sexy Tomb Raider outfit). Earlier ladies include Mae West, Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, Elizabeth Taylor, Jayne Mansfield and the lovely Sophia Loren. We also have a little of Raquel Welch, Tura Santana and Pam Grier. Some more recent ladies include Jennifer Connelly (and yes, they include video of the scene with her riding the horse in Career Opportunities), Monica Bellucci, Jennifer Tilly, Scarlett Johansson and Rosario Dawson (video from her Clerks II dance -- gotta love it!). And of course, how could they leave off those busty animated characters; Jessica Rabbit rounds out the list of fifty.

I should also note that this list was created to help raise awareness for the American Cancer Society, considering it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So it's all for fun and a good cause; hopefully no one will be offended. That said, I've included the Chesty Morgan video after the jump because, quite frankly, it's all kinds of awesome. Do you agree with their list, or are there breasts women they left out? (Um, I'd like to be first in asking where Salma Hayek, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Carla Gugino, Eva Mendes and -- heck -- Lindsay Lohan are, just to name a few ...)

[via Hollywood Elsewhere]

A potentially compelling film noir story delivered in an irritatingly bright and overzealous package, Cleaner has two very excellent things going for it -- and their names are Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris. If you're a serious fan of either actor (and if you're not, you should be), then you'll definitely want to rent Cleaner once it (eventually) pops up in your local theater video store. Beyond the contributions from Jackson and Harris, however, there's very little worth talking about where Cleaner is concerned.

We start off with a potentially juicy concept: Sam Jackson plays a 'hazardous waste cleaner' who gets framed for a murder he (probably) didn't commit. And when I say 'hazardous waste cleaner' I mean that this is the guy who'd come to your house to eliminate the gore if someone happened to have their brains blown out in your living room. So things look pretty promising at the outset: We've got a great actor playing a strange role and doing a fine job of it -- and then the plot kicks in.

Seems that our "cleaner" has just cleaned up a murder that the police know nothing about. And even if they DID have a clue, they'd probably be thrilled about it because the victim was a stool pigeon who was about to blow the lid off some serious police corruption charges. So when Cleaner guy realizes that he forgot to return the house key, he's distressed to learn that The Wife (Eva Mendes) knows nothing about any bloodshed in her living room. But, oddly enough, her husband has just gone missing. (dun dun dunnnnn)

Following up her turn in the comic-book movie Ghost Rider, Eva Mendes has signed on to co-star in another comic adaptation, The Spirit. Based on the classic Will Eisner character, the movie will be written and directed by Frank Miller. Variety reports that Mendes joins a cast that includes Gabriel Macht as the title hero, Samuel L. Jackson as the villainous Octopus and Scarlett Johansson as the Octopus' accomplice, Silken Floss. Although Miller has hinted in the past that the film will feature no love interest -- The Spirit is "a bit of a slut" -- I figured that Johansson would at least serve as the closest thing. Her character would figure well as a femme fatale who seduces and/or ends up falling for The Spirit. So, now how does Mendes' casting fit in? The Hollywood Reporter says the actress is playing a character named Sand Saref, who is described as "a beauty with dangerous curves." The trade further explains her role as the only woman to ever break The Spirit's heart. Saref and Denny Colt (The Spirit's alter ego) were teenage sweethearts before Colt's uncle killed Saref's father. Afterward, Saref entered a life of crime and espionage.

So, I guess The Spirit won't be portrayed as a complete man-whore. According to plot points given at this year's Comic-Con, the film will actually feature a love triangle between The Spirit, Saref and another character named Ellen Dolan, who has yet to be cast. In addition to casting Mendes, Miller has hired a cinematographer for the movie: Bill Pope. The DP is no stranger to comic book movies; he shot Spiderman 2 and 3, as well as Sam Raimi's Darkman (which is like a comic book movie) and Army of Darkness. His greatest and most memorable work, though, would have to be The Matrix trilogy.

A few months back Monika brought you some info on an international trailer for James Gray's crime thriller We Own the Night -- but now we've got a brand-new domestic trailer to check out ... and I'd say the flick looks pretty solid! (Maybe not all that startlingly original, but certainly something worth seeing.) Click here to check out the trailer at IGN Movies, and then take a second to wonder if Mark Wahlberg really likes playing a cop. (I'd say he does.)

Based on what I saw in the promotional clip, We Own the Night is about two brothers: one a decent cop (Wahlberg) and the other a nightclub owner (Joaquin Phoenix) who (unwisely) gets involved with some big-time Russian drug dealers. Cue conflict. Also on board are (the fantastic) Robert Duvall as the patriarch and (the rather attractive) Eva Mendes as the worried girlfriend.

You may remember James Gray from The Yards and Little Odessa, both of which are definitely worth a rental some night. The film played the Cannes Film Festival a few months back, prompting Variety's Todd McCarthy to write the following: "Adequately acted and flecked with the required quota of action to satisfy genre fans, pic recalls numerous good police dramas of the 1970s, but mostly in superficial ways that bring nothing new to the table." Our own James Rocchi had this to say: "May feel curiously at odds with itself, but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad movie; if Gray's movie excels at one thing, it's how it takes the title phrase and makes a boast into something like a curse."

Sony looks poised to release Night on October 12.

Which one of the following actresses would you like to see playing a badass drug kingpin: Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendes or Penélope Cruz? I ask this question because those are the three names currently circling the lead role in Queen of the South. Warner Independent has just nabbed Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express) to helm the film, which revolves around a "Mexican woman who escaped Spain after her drug mule boyfriend is killed, then becomes a drug kingpin and seeks revenge for her boyfriend's murder." Based on Arturo Perez-Reverte's novel, they're calling this one a female version of Scarface -- which automatically piques my interest -- and appears to be one of the more sought-after female roles out there right now.

If you want my opinion, I'd have to say J-Lo is the frontrunner here. Cruz is too cute and fragile, and Mendes hasn't shown me enough range to take on a role like this -- whereas Lopez is a pretty decent actress when she's given the right material. I know folks love to bash Lopez, but I thoroughly enjoyed her in Out of Sight, really liked her in the soon-to-be-released Bordertown (check out my Berlinale review of that film here), and heard lots of good things about her performance in the upcoming El Cantante. But as a woman with a huge fanbase (who also has a music career to worry about), is "drug kingpin" dangerous territory from a PR standpoint? Would you J-Lo fans like to see her in a role like this? And if not, who would you choose to play the female Scarface? Perhaps we should just dress Pacino in drag, a la Travolta in Hairspray -- whaddya think?

It's been over ten years since the Renny Harlin action flick The Long Kiss Goodnight hit theaters. But if Samuel L. Jackson and Harlin have their way, a sequel could hit theaters sometime in the near future. MTV's movie blog spoke with Jackson about working with Harlin on some possible script ideas and Jackson says, "We sort of have a development project now for The Long Kiss Goodnight 2, we're talking to writers, you know, getting it together." The original film was centered on a seemingly meek and mild housewife (Geena Davis) who turns out to be a bad ass super-agent suffering from amnesia who is up against some shadowy government types. Jackson was along for the ride as a hard-drinking private eye.

The film was the second attempt for Harlin to turn his then-wife Davis into a female action hero, the first being the less than stellar pirate flick Cutthroat Island. The two films didn't seem to help their relationship and the couple were divorced in 1998. But it doesn't look like Davis is figuring into Harlin and Jackson's plans for a sequel. "Actually, we're thinking, you know, the little girl [Samantha's daughter, Caitlin] is grown up now and possibly got some skills passed onto her by her mom," Jackson says. And if that wasn't enough of a hint, he even spells out that the actual idea is "Her mom gets killed and we want to find out who did it." It looks like they will have plenty to talk about while they are working together on Harlin's latest thriller Curve.

The women have been really hard to come by -- at least when The Women in question is a remake of the 1939 classic. (What is it with the year 1939 lately?) MGM was first focused on the project, but no real headway was made and the title was sold to Ted Turner as part of MGM's library. He, in turn, bought New Line and made the film a starring vehicle for Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan, with James L. Brooks signed on to direct (1994). It was at this point that Diane English was brought on to the production, a writer known for her work on Murphy Brown. It took a handful of years and then she was named director of the project in 2001. It took another 5 years to get further, when Matt Bradshaw posted about the cast of the film, which consisted of Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow, Anne Hathaway and Candice Bergen. It was supposed to start shooting in March, but nothing happened when Spring rolled around.

Now Variety has the scoop on The Women, which almost has a finalized cast, and has gotten an actual start date -- August 6 -- over ten years after the adaptation was put in the works. Some of the cast has stayed the same, and some have changed. Along with Ryan and Bergen, actresses in final talks are Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing. That's really one hell of a cast considering that the film has got a budget under $20 million. One of the backers is Dove, you know, the soap? When the film begins to be marketed, I imagine there will be lots and lots of soap-centric commercials with these leading ladies. As for how the title is translated over 60 years later, word has it that English's "script maintains the arch spirit of the original, and the all-female cast, but the gals aren't as relentlessly catty this time around." It is, however, still about the group of female friends and how one's husband is cheating on her.

Mandate Pictures announced yesterday that Eva Mendes has signed for Curve, a thriller about a woman who takes a detour into a backwoods area of New York and "finds herself at the mercy of a psychopathic killer." There's no other description given so far, but the film is being written by James Vanderbilt, who wrote the John Travolta military suspense film Basic as well as David Fincher's procedural Zodiac, so its more likely to be a full-on suspense film than any kind of Wolf Creek type-deal, I would imagine. As for Mendes, she was most recently seen in the Tribeca film Live! and will next appear in the crime drama We Own the Night, alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg. She's also currently working on Renny Harlin's next film, Cleaner, a crime thriller about a former cop played by Samuel L. Jackson who now makes a living cleaning up crime scenes.

So what have we learned here? Eva Mendes doesn't like romantic comedies or isn't being offered them anymore, I guess. In conjunction with the Mendes announcement, Mandate Pictures also announced on Friday that they are getting more involved in direct-to-DVD films, launching Grindstone Entertainment Group. The deal will allow for up to six films a year to be made under the banner, which will be specifically for home entertainment distribution, as well as online and mobile.